The company that operated the helicopter that crashed in the Hudson River on Thursday, killing all six people aboard, will be shutting down “immediately,” The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Sunday night.
“New York Helicopter Tours — the company involved in the deadly crash on the Hudson earlier this week — is shutting down their operations immediately,” the FAA said in a statement on X.
The FAA said it will launch “an immediate review of the tour operator's license and safety record,” and will “continue to support” the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) investigation of the crash.
“Safety is the FAA’s number one priority, and we will not hesitate to act to protect the flying public,” the agency added.
The announcement came hours after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on federal authorities to revoke New York Helicopter Tours’ operating permits and order the company to halt flights.
On Thursday, a sightseeing helicopter broke apart midair and crashed in the Hudson River, around 15 minutes after it took off from the Downtown Skyport in Lower Manhattan, authorities said.
All six people on board the helicopter, including the pilot and a family from Spain, died in the crash, officials said. The father, Agustin Escobar, was an executive at the German technology giant Siemens.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the aircraft was not equipped with any flight recorders in an update on Saturday evening.
“No onboard video recorders or camera recorders have been recovered and none of the helicopter avionics onboard recorded information that could be used for the investigation,” the agency said.
The Associated Press contributed.
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